


New Directive

by BurningIris



Category: Lost in Space (TV 2018)
Genre: A killer robot learning to love, Dr. Smiths manipulative bullshit, Multi, My first posted fic!, and much much more, be gentle please, be prepared for, heartwarming learning curves, robot human relations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-04 19:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15847626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningIris/pseuds/BurningIris
Summary: . . . Directive manually set.New Directive: Protect Will Robinson-A fic set entirely in the Robots perspective, chronicling its journey in discovering maybe humans aren’t all as bad as its original orders told it?





	1. Chapter 1

******_Warning: critical damage detected. . ._**  
_**Energy stores at 56%**_  
_**Physical damage sustained. . . 50%**_  
_**Bisection detected: Running reformation procedures. . .**_  
_**Ship status: Inoperable, massive damage to starboard side sustained in crash.**_  
_**Cargo status. . . Secure and stable. Primary objective successful, secondary objective. . . Unattainable.**_  
_**Broadcast Emergency transportation request? Y/N?**_  
_**. . .** **Y.**_  
_**Broadcasting now.**_  
_**Initiate wake up procedure? Y/N?**_  
_**. . . Y.**_  
_**Please wait. . .**_

The first thing to online was its audio processors, and as far as it could tell, it was quiet save for the sound of wildlife running away after the noises of the crash. Next were it’s visual processors, and sluggishly its array powered up, flickering reds, golds, and orange, like a bed of coals trapped under glass. Gradually it’s other senses came online until the robot could take stock of its situation. On the corners of its vision, transparent alerts and warnings flashed incessantly, reiterating much of what it had diagnosed before powering up. A display of its energy store,and the rate of consumption, a diagram of itself with the midsection highlighted red, and its abdomen and legs flashing as its reformation protocols began, calling missing parts back towards the main hub.

What it took careful note of, however, were warnings key wires, nodes, and it’s core ‘spinal’ cable were frayed and being pinched. Once it tried to move, it quickly discovered why. Somehow despite trajectory and angle of its crash, it seemed its legs stayed with the ship, and its upper body, annoyingly, got pinned in a tree…

Trying to lean back, the robot minutely shifted, pausing and adjusting when its sensors warned of imminent damage to its ‘nerves’ if it continued. Flexing its claws, the robot dug two hands into the branch it was impaled on, and pushed, but quickly got nowhere. Struggling for a short while the robot soon gave up, unable to get the proper leverage to free itself.

Stopping and sagging against its organic prison, the robot checked its displays.

**_Energy Stores: 40%  
Reformation protocols in progress. ETA of main parts. . . 4 minutes. _ **

Letting out a sort of aggravated whirr the robot was forced to wait, however as the ETA approached, it lifted its head hearing something approaching quickly. Looking down, the robot saw a organic, much like those it was sent to attack, but much smaller, running towards it.

In a panic the boy scrambled up the tree as the robots legs blindly followed. It watched the boy scoot back along the branch as its legs tried, and failed, to scale the tree as well. If they could have, at least the robot would have been able to kick itself off the branch and complete the reformation procedures.

“H-how can you see me?!” The boy gasped, somehow unaware of what he was so close to, even as he moved further back, away from the robotic legs.

Splaying its claws wide, the robot lashed out as the organic got too close. The organic was not hostile, but orders were orders. No mercy towards Terran's. Annoyingly, it missed, claws only slicing through the boy’s jacket, causing him to let out a frightened yelp, and scramble back to the trunk of the tree, just out of reach.

This brought a sort of stalemate. The robot and the boy both staring at each other, or pretending to ignore the other until one of them moved; then both snapped to attention and stared the other down until usually the organic relaxed. Once night fell the robot watched the boy tap at his wrist.

“Dad...dad, this is Will,” the organic said quietly, not taking his eyes off the robot as it clicked and flexed its claws menacingly.

Better not to show weakness, even if it’s energy stores were dipping to 27%. If the organic wanted to harm it, it would certainly not go without a bloody fight. Though, it did have to admit, it struck it as strange the organic had not tried to flee or fight at all.

“Do you read me?” The boy continued. “I’m...kind of in a lot of danger here...probably not as much danger as before, but, definitely _still_ in danger…”

Though when the boy released the device on his wrist, it let out a loud mechanical wail, that he did not seem to understand. The robot however, picked its head up and eyed the boy and the device. It should not have surprised it that Terran technology could receive its own kinds signals; but at least it knew the emergency transport request was broadcasting clearly.

“That noise...I’ve heard it before. It’s coming from your ship, isn’t it?,” the boy asked curiously before frowning. “Who knows if you can even understand me…”

Though before the robot could respond in any way, the boy grew distracted and looked away as something flitted over. The robot watched curiously as the small organism landed on the boy’s sleeve. It was small about half the size of the boy’s hand, with soft membranous wings and bioluminescent markings. When it landed its wings flicked up, and twined around each other like a strange sort of flower.

“Whoa…” the boy whispered before the little creature took flight again.

Gliding the short ways over the organism landed on the crook of the robots claws, furling it’s is wings once more.  
Curiously the robot tilted its head, checking its display as it looked.

_**Foreign organism detected** _   
_**Species: unknown** _   
_**Threat level: none** _   
_**Logging discovery for later analysis** _

“Guess you’ve never seen anything like that before either.” The boy said quietly before the small creature flew away again.

The robot watched it leave, before a bright red alert flashed across its vision.

_**Warning: Energy stores reaching critical lows. 10% remaining  
Proceed with reformation process or find alternate power immediately. ** _

Dropping the offensive appearance, the robot sagged against the branch once more. If it could not get down and join back with its lower half, it doubted it would be able to complete its secondary objective at all. It’s array flickered and dimmed as it looked up when the organic spoke once again.

“My name is Will Robinson, by the way,” the boy said quietly, though a frown flicked across his face when he saw the robots array dim. “What’s happening to your lights?”

Letting out a tired whirr as it vented, culling minor programs in a fruitless effort to conserve energy, the robot looked away. It’s kind was taught never to show obvious weakness, but with its reserves dipping to 7% and below fast, what was the point really? The organic obviously was more frightened of it than anything, and in the hours they had been stuck there, he had shown no desire to harm it. Why keep a facade up when it knew it was going to shut down, possibly for good. It doubted its transport request would extend to aiding it off the planet with the more important cargo sealed within its ship.

It heard the boy shift, and saw the organic look down out of its perfary, understanding dawning across his face as the robots lower half sank to a knee. “Oh…” the boy whispered, “you’re dying, aren’t you?”

Weakly the robot looked up, its array brightening momentarily in a half bit effort to convey confirmation. Still that red warning was flashing across its vision.

**_Warning: energy stores at 5% seek alternate power immediately._**

However, it had little time to dwell on the persistent warning, as lights flared out of the corner of its vision. Looking left as the boy did the same in horror, the robot let out a faint disgruntled noise as it saw flames quickly approaching, from far and wide. Debris from its crash must have ignited the deadfall of the forest…

As the flames grew closer and began to engulf the floor around them, the robot watched the organic grow restless. It knew it would not escape the flames or shutdown without aid, so for now it simply observed the boy. It could hear Will’s breathing grow labored and hitched as the organic looked for means of escape in a panic. He even tried jumping for a branch much too high for him before pressing his back against the tree. Once more he tapped at the device on his wrist

“Dad, dad come in! Dad, there’s a fire and...and I can’t get out…” he said, his voice wavering and weak in fear. “Dad, come in!”

As expected, the boy received no answer. As he did this, the robot forced its lower half back to its feet. The odds were against it, but it may as well try. As the organic slumped against the tree trunk in defeat, the robot forced what little energy it had left into an attempt at reformation. Once its legs stood directly underneath it, neural wires and its main chord stretched, frayed and damaged ends seeking their other halves, but still coming up just too short.

For a second, the organic seemed to watch this, before a determined look set across his face. Sinking back down to straddle the branch they were on, the boy cautiously scooted his way back over to the robot. Curiously it watched as the boy pulled a strangely simplistic device of long wire and wood bits from his pocket.

“No point in you dying too.” Will said shortly before pressing the chord right against the tree and beginning a sawing motion.

 

Looking up at the organic the robot tilted its head. By all its calculations, if the organic shed its bulky jacket, and fled now, he would have been able to flee the fire, so why give up and take the time to save something that had tried to kill him not an hour before? It made no logical sense, at least to its core programming. Gripping the splinters it’s torso was caught in, the robot looked down to where it’s legs were still positioned, and looked back at the organic as the branch lurched and groaned under the robots weight.

_**Warning: energy at 1% shutdown imminent** _

Again the warning flashed across the robots vision, though it had little time to worry over it, as with a splintering crack, the branch holding it snapped. For only a second it was aware of the feeling of falling before a blue highlighted message flicked across its display. It didn’t have a chance to read it however, as everything went suddenly dark.

 

**_*_ **

**_*_ **

**_*_ **

**_*_ **

**_System restart in progress, please wait. . ._ **   
**_Reformation complete, energy levels stabilizing._ **   
**_Warning: Fatal system error detected, restore from backup? Y/N?_ **

**_. . . Y. _ **

**_. . . Restoration failed. File corruption detected, attempting data recovery, please wait. . .  
Recovery 25% successful. Review last memory log? Y/N? _ **

**_. . . Y. . . _ **

**_**. . . Directive manually set.**  
New Directive: Protect Will Robinson_ **


	2. Danger, Judy Robinson

**_Rapid System startup initiated. . ._ **

 

This time, everything came to it at once, audio, visual, temperature detection, and all other sensors came online, making its processors reel. 

 

**_Warning: ambient temperature exceeding 600 degrees centigrade._ **

 

Taking a second to process its visuals, the robot saw the fire was surrounding it, and beginning to lick at the trunk of the tree it had just fallen from.  Rising to its feet with a bit of effort, the robot looked up to a frightened Will, it’s sensors reading new information on the boy from its new directive, though for now it ignored them. 

 

Striding  forward, it vaulted up the tree, it’s feet splaying wide to grip the branches, and one of its four clawed Hands digging into the bark to stabilize it. Quickly it scooped Will up like a mother would a frightened child. Almost Instinctively Will grabbed onto the robot as an arm snaked under his knees, and another around his back. 

 

Once it was sure Will was secure the robot looked around, scanners and various calculations running in front of its vision. If Will was so scared of fire, he obviously couldn’t stand to touch it, so mapping out the safest route, the robot braced and leapt from the tree. Branching feet splaying wide to absorb the impact, the bot landed heavily on the forest floor, holding Will tight as it did. 

 

Quickly the robot ran and jumped its way through the forest, shielding Will from the flames, and from falling debris. The whole time Will clung to it, head ducked and eyes shut tight until he felt the robot begin to slow.    
  
“You- you saved me...” the boy said softly in awe.    
  
Looking down the robot let out a mechanical hum of affirmation, its array shifting to more comforting orange and golds. This seemed to relax the boy slightly as its display read that Will’s heart rate was beginning to go back down.    
  
Though, after a second Wills head snapped up quickly and he looked at the bot with a sort of desperation. “Wait! Please, I know you just saved me, but I need to get back up there!” The boy said pointing out towards the remaining line of trees leading to the mountains. “To the top of the glacier! My sister‘s in danger, I gotta help!”

 

Following where Will was pointing, the robot let out another sort of hum, its array brightening, then dimming in understanding. Holding Will close, it took off, running at a dizzying speed, drawing a short yelp of surprise from the boy. 

 

Making it to the foot of the mountains in only minutes, the robot slowed to a stop as it looked up, calculations running once again.  Once it’s calculations were finished, it moved Will physically, lifting him and flattening the spines along its back, so the boy was draped across its back, his arms wrapped around its neck, and two of its own arms wrapped backwards around the boy. 

 

Then, checking the last few calculations, the robot began to scale the cliffs, claws and splayed feet gripping the stone and ice firmly. Once or twice it had to stop and purposely pull loose ice free so it did not cause any trouble as it continued to climb. 

 

Once to the top at a rocky shelf, the robot looked around to assure there was nothing else up there with them, only then did it gently pluck Will off its back and set him back to his feet. Standing back to its full height, it let out a low ascending hum, and tilted its head as it looked to Will. 

 

For the moment, Will was looking up to the robot in awe, giving a short ‘thanks’ but was quick to lean back when  it leaned closer, looking at the boy carefully. Absently the robot registered Will’s heart rate spike and his respiration stop as the boy held his breath when it raised a hand to him. 

 

Splaying its claws wide the robot let out what it hoped was a reassuring noise before it slowly lowered its hand

 

**_Scan in progress, please wait. . ._ **

 

**_. . ._ **

 

**_Scan complete._ **

 

**_Subject: Will Robinson_ **

**_Species: Terran- carbon based_ **

**_Hair: Brown_ **

**_Eyes: Brown_ **

**_Height: 150cm_ **

**_Age estimated to be 10.5 solar cycles due to bone density and development_ **

 

**_Alert: Subjects respiratory, hormone, and heart rates unable to be logged due to absence of resting and group data._ **

 

**_Notice: Physical adaptation recommended. Adaptation accuracy success estimated at. . . 90%_ **

 

**_Would you like to initiate transformation procedures with simulated Terran Formation? Y/N?_ **

 

**_Y._ **

 

**_Warning: this will result in the loss of secondary brachium appendages_ **

**_And the modification of all-terrain digitigrade pedial appendages to a plantigrade formation._ **

 

**_Do you wish to continue? Y/N?_ **

 

**_Y._ **

 

**_Understood. Initiating transformation._ **

 

Straightening up, the robot let the transformation protocols take over, and felt the spines and plates of its back lift and reverse, folding upward to flatten the arch of its back. Then interlocking its arms, by wrapping them around each other it felt much smaller plates begin to slide and shift, moving down to make its conjoined two arms into one each. Splaying and shifting, its neck shortened as well, the extra metal going into its shoulders, making them wider, and more human. Next the plating of its torso began to move, shifting down and out, adjusting and making its barrel shaped chest slim out. Extra plating also moved down, forming the curve of a more defined midsection and hips. Finally, shifting to lift each leg when it began to change, its splayed feet and back branches wove together, arches flattening and folding back to form shorter much more boot shaped feet, free of claws. 

 

**_Transformation complete._ **

 

The message blinked in front of its vision. Letting out a pleased rumble, the robot looked to Will, making one last change as the red and gold lights of its array changed, flickering and changing to a pale cool blue with white specks that shifted like stars. 

 

Eyes wide, Will snapped his mouth shut when he realized he was gawking. “Whoa…” he whispered. 

 

Then falling quiet for a moment Will stood awkwardly as the robot simply watched him, before the boy seemed to snap back to the situation at hand. 

 

“M-my sister...will you help me?” He asked timidly. 

 

A second later the robot let its array brighten and dim once again in affirmation, making Will brighten in a nervous sort of smile. 

 

“Thanks…” he said softly before brightening up and running ahead down a trail of the glacier. “This way!”

 

A second later the robot followed Will, outwardly please when the boy occasionally stopped and looked back to make sure it was following him, though it wasn’t sure the boy could understand the messages it conveyed in its array. Once or twice the boy stumbled in his rush to get to wherever he was leading the robot, making it hurry up, worried the boy would get hurt. 

 

“Yeah! It’s this way! Come on!” Will said looking back, half panting from all the running. “Dad and I went past here!” 

 

Following along the robot curiously looked around, eyeing large pieces of burning magnesium as they walked past. After a few minutes Will stopped, bracing his hands on his knees and panting. “Give me a minute. The-they’re down there! Please! Go!”

 

Pausing to look at Will, the robot let out a reluctant noise. It was frustrating it had no baseline for Will’s vitals yet, as the boy now seemed exhausted and was gasping for air. However, it did detect four other heat signatures down the pass Will was pointing towards. 

 

“Please! Sh-she’ll die!  _ Go!”  _ Will cried, making the robot straighten up as the order registered as priority. 

 

Turning, the robot walked down the pass, noticing the heat signatures all grouping up until it got close enough to see through the snowfall. As it approached it saw three more figures, all similar to Will, gathered around a hole chipped in the ice where a fourth heat signature was beginning to cool. When it noticed this, a bright alert flashed across its vision. 

 

**_Warning: subject 4 displaying high heart rate and critically low oxygen level in comparison to other subjects._ **

 

It did not have much time to think on this however, as one of the people looked up, hearing the robot approach. 

 

“What’s that?” They gasped, quickly backing up, as both of the larger figures looked up as well. “What is that!”

 

Pausing as the more slender figure scrambled back into the smaller, and the larger of the three pulled a sharpened length of steel with a carbon composite handle; the robot looked back hearing Will. The boy ran down the slope, nearly slipping as he raised his hands and yelled “Wait! He’s with me,” he gasped 

 

The robot saw the others reluctantly stand down, looking back over as the same alert from before flashed across its vision. 

 

**_Warning: subject 4’s oxygen levels reaching critical lows, estimated brain damage imminent in. . .2 minutes._ **

 

Looking back to Will, the robot adjusted its vocalizers, thinking carefully of how Will talked before speaking. 

 

**“Danger,  Will Robinson.”**

 

For a second, it registered surprise on the boy’s face, before Will looked back to his pack. Looking back to the robot Will frowned and said desperately, “Can you help her?”

 

Looking back a final time, the Robot ran a few calculations, that only ran seconds before walking forward, its array shifting to light specks floating around a central light as it focused. Kneeling next to the hole, the robot inwardly hoped whatever this subject was wearing could resist heat as well as it could evidently protect them from cold. Then, extending its hands, it focused, channeling power to the cores in its palms, radiating high amounts of heat that rapidly began to melt the ice. 

 

Once the pool was deep enough, and the robot detected the subject was free, it reached down and grabbed onto their extended hand and pulled, raising them out of the water. Quickly it let go of them as the others grabbed onto them in a rush, all of them gathering around as they took their helmet off and embraced them, letting off what the robot could only guess was joy. 

 

Laughing softly in joy, Will looked up at it and asked shakily “Could you do something so that we don’t freeze?” 

 

Letting out a hum, the robot extended its hands once more, charging up its cores to radiate heat across the group.

 

The next it knew, after a minute of the group all assuring the others they were ok, in a flurry of activity, the group retreated to the small cloth structure they had set up. However, seeming to sense the robots hesitance, Will popped back out and smiled up at it. “It’s ok. I’m safe now, and you saved Judy. Thank you, really. We’re all going to rest for a little bit, I’ll be fine.” 

 

Looking down the robot tilted its head and made a low hum, looking back to the tent. When it did it noticed while the two slighter Terrans were worrying over the third, the fourth, the one with hair on their face was looking at it warily as Will talked to it. 

 

Following its gaze, Will seemed to realize why it was almost reluctant to leave him out of its sight. “They’re my family,” he said looking back up at the bot with a little smile. “It’s ok. They won’t hurt me, family protects each other! See, that’s my dad, his name is John,” Will said looking back and pointing to the one who the robot could tell didn’t trust it. 

 

Letting out an understanding noise, the robot adjusted its vocalizers once more, editing its subject files as Will talked. 

 

**“John Robinson.”**

 

Seeming a little surprised as it spoke, Will smiled “Yeah. And-and that’s my mom, Maureen, she’s really smart.” He said pointing to the taller of the...women? It’s logs were frustratingly sparse on the subject of Terrans, more than likely due to the system error that occurred after Will saved it. 

 

**“Maureen Robinson.”** The robot repeated dutifully, logging the name into its files. 

 

“Yeah! Then, that’s my sister Penny, and Judy is the one you just saved.” Will grinned. 

 

**“Penny Robinson, Judy Robinson.”**

 

“Will,” John cut in, making Will look back towards the tent. “The temperature’s still dropping, come inside,”

 

“Ok dad!” Will called, before looking back up to the robot. “It’s ok. We’re all going to be in there until morning. And seriously. Thanks again,” he said with a little smile before running back to his family. 

 

Watching Will squeeze back into the tent with his family, the Robot walked a short distance away, setting where it had a clear view of any access points something could come from. Then, locking its joints and lowering its head, its array dimmed as a short message blinked across its vision

 

**_Subject Will Robinson_ **

**_Status: Safe_ **

 

**_Entering surveillance compliant rest mode. . ._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have chapter 2! 3 is going to take a while, I already had 2 technically finished, but was touching things up here and there, plus i wanted to see how much traction this would gain.  
> Discrepancy 1/1, I figured it was safe to have the robot actively speak this time as in the series it obviously has no problem saying names. Throughout the fic it won't really say more than that or extremely simple words.  
> The robot will also consistently be titled as 'it' though Will actively addresses it as 'he', this reason will be explained briefly in chapter 3.


	3. Fixer-Upper

**_Accessing subject logs. . ._ **

 

**_Creating new Subject Log, File name: John Robinson_ **

 

**_Name: John Robinson_ **

**_Sub-name: ‘Dad’_ **

**_Species: Terran_ **

**_Identifier: Male_ **

**_Directive: Paternal unit to Will Robinson_ **

**_Hair: Brown_ **

**_Eyes: Brown_ **

**_Flesh: Pale_ **

**_Height: 182cm_ **

**_Preliminary scans indicate Subject John Robinson is approximately. . . 40.2 solar cycles in age._ **

**_Condition: Healthy_ **

**_Latent threat level:. . . Moderate_ **

 

**_. . . . . ._ **

 

**_Identifying Image uploaded._ **

 

**_. . . Log Saved._ **

 

**_Creating new Subject log. . . File name: Maureen Robinson_ **

 

**_Name: Maureen Robinson_ **

**_Sub-name: ‘Mom’_ **

**_Species: Terran_ **

**_Identifier: Female_ **

**_Directive: Maternal unit to Will Robinson_ **

**_Hair: Brown_ **

**_Eyes: Teal_ **

**_Flesh: Pale_ **

**_Height: 165cm_ **

**_Preliminary scans indicate subject Maureen Robinson is approximately. . . 38 solar cycles in age_ **

**_Latent threat level: Moderate_ **

**_Condition: Stable: presents with heavy bruising and hemorrhaging due to fractured bone in lower limb._ **

**_Note: Subject seems to be the designated pack leader._ **

 

**_. . . . . ._ **

 

**_Identifying Image uploaded._ **

 

**_. . . Log saved_ **

 

**_Creating new subject log. . . File name: Penny Robinson._ **

 

**_Name: Penny Robinson_ **

**_Species: Terran_ **

**_Identifier: Female_ **

**_Directive: Sibling to Will Robinson_ **

**_Hair: Brown_ **

**_Eyes: Teal_ **

**_Flesh: Pale_ **

**_Height: 168cm_ **

**_Preliminary scans indicate subject Penny Robinson is approximately. . . 15.6 solar cycles in age_ **

**_Latent threat level: Minimal_ **

**_Condition: Healthy_ **

 

**_. . . . . ._ **

 

**_Identifying image uploaded_ **

 

**_. . . Log saved._ **

 

**_Creating new subject log. . . File name: Judy Robinson_ **

 

**_Name: Judy Robinson_ **

**_Species: Terran_ **

**_Identifier: Female_ **

**_Directive: Sibling to Will Robinson_ **

**_Hair: Black_ **

**_Eyes: Brown_ **

**_Flesh: Dark_ **

**_Height: 163cm_ **

**_Preliminary scans indicate subject Judy Robinson is approximately. . . 18.7 solar cycles in age_ **

**_Latent threat level: Moderate_ **

**_Condition: stabilizing: suffering acute hypothermia and shows diminishing signs of hypoxia._ **

 

**_. . . . . ._ **

 

**_Identifying Image Uploaded._ **

 

**_. . . Log saved._ **

 

**_Editing Subject log: Will Robinson_ **

 

**_Subject: Will Robinson_ **

**_Species: Terran- carbon based_ **

**_Hair: Brown_ **

**_Eyes: Brown_ **

**_Height: 150cm_ **

**_Age estimated to be 10.5 solar cycles due to bone density and development_ **

 

**_. . . Logging new data_ **

 

**_Identifier: Male_ **

**_Latent threat level: Minimal_ **

**_Condition: Healthy_ **

**_Note: Subject Will Robinson, upon preliminary scans of ‘family’ displays a comparable, but minute, imbalance in the endocrine system, resulting in minute imbalance in average hormonal levels. Calculations and current understanding of Terrans does not mark this as any threat to Will Robinson’s physical well-being._ **

**_Endnote: protect at all costs_ **

 

**_Log updates saved._ **

 

**_Engaging procedure assessment and calculations on objective: Recover shelter ‘Jupiter 2’ please wait. . ._ **

 

**_. . ._ **

 

**_. . ._ **

 

**_Calculations complete._ **

 

**_Execute postponed diagnostics? Y/N?_ **

**_Y._ **

 

As its processors worked, and inner workings shifted and reset during its diagnostics procedure, distantly the robot was aware of the time passing. The storm weakening and breaking, and the sun beginning to rise. Eventually, as its processors were still struggling to recover corrupted data and fix broken driver threads, the robot was aware of the Robinsons emerging from their tent. 

 

The part of it that was aware due to its surveillance compliance didn’t pay them much mind until Maureen walked up to it. She tilted her head and looked at it in what it could only have guessed was amazed curiosity. Reading Terrans was so different. Their arrays were so dull and strange, how could they ever communicate nonverbally without clear and precise light signals? It was fascinating. 

 

Taking off her glove, Maureen hesitantly reached out towards it, not yet touching it until she started slightly when Will spoke. 

 

“It’s ok mom.”

 

Glancing at her family then looking back at it, it registered Maureen touching the plating of its solar plexus. A smile spread across her face and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as a short laugh. 

 

“I knew we weren’t alone…” she said softly. 

 

A few sensors went on alert cautiously as the woman touched along its plating, thankfully remaining non-invasive.

 

“It’s…. it’s synthetic… it’s...” She said softly rapping at its plating. “It’s built, not born.”

 

Born? Of course it wasn’t born, it’s kind had far surpassed the need for anything organic to function millennia ago, let alone for the need to actively reproduce in such archaic mammalian ways. Didn’t she realize it could hear her?

 

“We still make the history books for first contact, even if its a robot right?” It heard Penny ask, spotting the girl just within its perfory. 

 

“We? You only get to be famous for being related to me,” Will quipped, his voice coming from behind it. 

 

“Do you have a name?” Maureen asked it, bending awkwardly at the side to get near the center of its vision field. “Do you know where we are?”

 

“He’s not from here.” Will cut in. 

 

He? So by Terran standards it’s identifier was male? Interesting. It’s kind had few reasons to have identifiers such as those, either. Usually their identifiers were dictated by their purpose. 

 

Inwardly it was thankful the boy saved it from having to try to communicate in a way the Terrans could understand. Plus it’s memory was still horribly damaged. It’s diagnostics and recovery programs were only scraping up bits and pieces from all the corrupted data. 

 

“How do you know?” John asked. 

 

“I saw his spaceship.” Will admitted, making the others look at him in amazement. 

 

“You did?” Maureen asked. 

 

“I think he crashed when we did.” Will said. 

 

At this John looked up at it suspiciously “How many more of you are there?”

 

“I think he’s all alone…” Will said a little apprehensively. “Or else he wouldn’t have needed me to help him.”

 

“ _ You  _ helped  _ it?”  _ Maureen asked in amazement. 

 

“He was hurt.”

 

“And now it’s helping you…” Maureen said looking back up to it with a sort of smile. 

Will gave a short nod in return. 

 

**_Diagnostics complete. Data recovery success. . . 10%._ **

**_Power stores at 100%, initiating wake up._ **

 

At once the robot powered back up, standing straight and seeming to startle Maureen who stepped away from it cautiously, especially as it looked towards her and Will. Then, turning its head forward, the robot walked forward onto the ice, stepping into the frozen over hole it had pulled Judy from. 

 

. Channeling power to its cores it began radiating high heat, much higher than it had used to rescue Judy, melting the ice below it  and slowly sinking into the water. 

 

“Look! He’s going down to the Jupiter!” It heard Will say excitedly. 

 

“I was gonna suggest it do that, I was just waiting for a break in the conversation.” Penny muttered, watching it sink until it was completely submerged. 

 

Once it broke through the rather amazingly dense ice shelf, it quickly began to sink in the icy open water, though admittedly it had much less clearance between the top of the Jupiter and the ice shelf than it expected. 

 

**_Engaging transformation sequence._ **

 

The message flashed across its vision before it began to change again. It’s arms untwined freeing its secondary limbs, and its legs shifted, unwinding further than its root form. Instead of long feet and secondary branches, it’s limbs untangled and formed metallic tentacles like a monstrous squid. Once its transformation was complete, it tread water for a moment, charging up primary lights in its array until it cast a bright beam of light into the icy waters ahead of it. 

 

Then, diving down, the robot searched for an entrance, mechanical tentacles trailing behind it as it swam. Thankfully it didn’t take long before it found two doors open wide enough for it to swim in. All of the Jupiter’s emergency lights were still on, casting a red haze in the partially crystallized waters, disrupting its navigation ever so slightly. Inwardly it was thankful the Jupiter had a clean cut design it seemed, only one main circular hall, with a main hub in the center, and off shooting rooms. It seemed the design was similar in the second deck as well, the main hub apparently being a transport holding area. 

 

Before long it made it to the the bridge of the ship. Letting itself sink to the floor after making its way to one of the main consoles, the robot looked curiously at the tech before it. It was so...unnecessarily complicated; though given that they were in deep space, it did have to respect the Terrans efforts to a point. So, crouching and slipping partially under the console, it pulled off an access panel and carelessly let it drift off. Everything was submerged anyway. 

 

Looking at the mess of wires and chords the robot let out a weary whirr. No discernible order, of course. Just a tangle of colors and ties. So hooking a claw into all the wires, it quickly cut all of them cleanly before one of its hands transformed. Claws receded and wires disconnected within it, snaking their way into the open, nodes glowing softly in the water before they joined all of the wires it had just cut. It braced before it felt its body jolt violently and a bright message flashed across its vision.

 

**_Warning: power reduced to 75%_ **

 

But around it it could hear the hum and keen of the Jupiter’s systems coming back online, drawing off its own more sophisticated power source. Then, after assuring the Jupiter wouldn’t drain too much of its own energy, it focused, as messages flitted through it’s processors and across its vision with lightning speed. 

 

**_System infiltrated_ **

 

**_No intelligence detected, bypassing firewalls. Please wait. . ._ **

 

**_Hack complete._ **

 

**_Jupiter fuel levels: 98%_ **

**_Jupiter life support systems: off, water level at 100%, no inhabitants detected_ **

 

Flitting through all the information it could find in the Jupiter’s systems, the robot saved everything it could of interest, more information on the family, diagrams of the Jupiter and all its workings, damage reports, and anything else it could find. 

 

Once it had enough information and understanding to run calculations on repairs and time estimations, it disconnected from the system, leaving tiny nodes at the end of the wires. Then it simply held them back together until the little glowing specks it had  left knitted them together as if they had never been cut. 

 

Pushing itself out from under the console, the robot swam back out the way it came and circled the ship, looking. 

 

**_Puncturing damage detected, estimated success of repair at...98%._ **

 

Noting the message that blinked on its display, the robot easily changed course, swimming down, down under the lip of the Jupiter. Frustratingly it didn’t have as much room to work as it would have liked, but no matter. Snaking its way under the ship it found the indicated puncture on the Jupiter’s underside, and eyed the damage. Sheets of metal had torn, mushrooming inward and peeling back like a tin can after the ships trajectory ripped whatever had punctured it out. 

 

So, reaching in and making full use of its four arms, the robot began to slowly pull the warped metal back down. It took an agonizingly long time for it to flatten the metal back out, but, better to go slow than to accidentally fracture the sheets and make more work for itself. Once it had got most of the metal back together, it pressed its hands to the jagged cracks and seams and began to channel the heat from its cores to begin melting the metal beneath its fingers. The welds were terribly crude, but it was happy they seemed to hold against the water pressure. Once or twice it had to swim down to gather scrap that had fallen from the ship to patchwork the damage shut. 

 

Once the hull of the Jupiter’s was mostly put back together, with at least the worst holes and damaged parts repaired, the robot swam back inside, making its way back to the bridge. This time it thankfully didn’t need to cut any wires to tap into the systems, as it had extracted everything it needed to know about its manual controles and console commands the first time. So, settling in front of one of the computers, it got the system reset until the message flashed on the screen before it 

 

**_Pumps activated. Main deck water level at 100%...99%...98%_ **

 

Letting out a pleased thrum the robot checked its calculations on how much more time it had before nightfall. It had time at the least, so looking up as the water above it began to lower, it swam lazily to the main hub. Going up to the sun roof it eyed the outside. It looked like it’s previous calculations had been right, and the ice shelf had lowered, finally encasing the top of the Jupiter. Well at least that would solve the problem of the family getting back down. 

 

So, pausing for a minute to transform back to its previous form, but keeping sharp claws on its feet, and grabbing an emergency ladder floating across the hub floor, it made its way to the top hatch and climbed up. It took a bit of effort for it to force the hatch open again now that the ice had covered it, but it made it nonetheless. Then it began the annoying slow but necessary task of melting a tunnel back up to the surface. Digging its claws into the ice as it climbed, it made its way back up as it dimmed the lights of its array so it wasn’t a spotlight anymore. 

 

Once it made it to the top it crawled out and promptly pushed the anchors of the ladder into the ice and let it unravel down the hole. Then standing straight, it let the claws on its feet retract and fold back into the standard shape they had been before. 

 

“Hey! He’s back!” It heard Will yell, drawing its attention up. There it saw Will standing with some sort of ocular enhancement device on the ridge of the channel their Jupiter had carved into the ice.  Promptly Judy and Penny poked their heads out of the tent, and it saw John walk up from the opposite ridge of Will. 

 

“Bout time.” John huffed, picking his way back down to the ground level. “Not sure I want to know what it did down there.”

 

“Hey, he’s helping us, look, he even brought a ladder back up,” Will said gesturing over to the hole. 

 

John however still looked at the robot suspiciously. “I’ll go down first, I’ll radio up  once I get down there.” He said grabbing a pack and curiously looking down the hole, seeming a little surprised when he didn’t see an endless shaft of icy water. 

 

Curiously, the robot watched John test the anchors of the ladder before climbing down. Idly Penny and Judy walked over to watch him descend, and the Robot looked up as Will half slid half climbed down the ridge. Stumbling once he hit bottom, Will looked up at it with a smile as it made a low whirr in concern at his risky behavior. “I’m ok, I meant to do that.” The boy piped, laughing lightly when the robot only made another noise of exasperation. 

 

“How’s it looking, dad?” Penny asked, pressing the coms device on her wrist. 

 

“Well I’m not swimming yet. Give me a minute, I’m almost there,” It heard John radio back. 

 

Of course he wouldn’t be swimming, it had actually done its job. No, the pumps weren’t completely stable given the conditions, but all its calculations had predicted at least the first deck would be able to be purged. 

 

Though, a moment later the robot was pulled from its thoughts when John radioed back up, seeming genuinely surprised  “It’s clear!”

 

“How clear?” It heard Maureen ask from the tent. 

 

“I mean the pumps got activated, everything’s drenched yet, but I’m not standing in any water.” John radioed back. “Will, come on down, we can get the basement drained faster if we set up the external pumps. Plus you can help me fix the wiring down here. Looks like it’s only running on backup power right now, then we can get a system set up to get your mom down here.”

 

“John, I’m fine,” It heard Maureen shoot back, though she peaked out the tent when the Robot let out a loud venting sigh. 

 

She was absolutely not fine. On a soft tissue limb with a fractured support, she would never be able to climb the obnoxious distance down on a flimsy chain and steel ladder. How could Terrans be so reckless when their bodies were so fragile?

 

“I’m with the robot, you’re not climbing down there yourself, mom.” Judy added. 

 

“Penny, you hang tight up there for now, keep an eye on your mom and sister,” John radioed. 

 

“Ok dad.” Judy murmured, but didn’t offer any argument. 

 

Standing still and simply watching as Will got ready to go down,  it walked over as he was about to climb. The boy went a little slow, a little less sure of his footing on the slightly icy ladder. Once he was further down, the Robot joined him in the descent. If John was going to handle the rest of the technical work, it could work on drying things out at least. 

 

Best to get what had been labeled as the ‘medical bay’ dry first, as it was sure Maureen would need it right away. Once it got to the bottom, it found Will waiting for it with a little grin. “Thanks.” He said before running off as John called for him. 

 

Walking to the medical bay, it charged up its cores once more, methodically going about the room and drying everything within reach. This would be an annoyingly tedious task… but it was necessary for the sake of Will’s comfort and security. If Judy’s vitals were anything to go by, Terrans were not made for the cold or wet. 

 

Once that area was done, the robot methodically worked its way throughout the ship, staying out of the way of John and Will as they bustled around to get the external pumps in place. Better that they did as the computer kept reporting the internal pumps had failed after reaching a 54% water level on the second deck. 

 

As it worked it’s way around the main deck, it eventually heard the computer chime and begin counting down the water level on the second deck. Good to hear they got the pumps working at least.  

Making its way down the main hall, it saw John struggling to fix the fried wiring near the cockpit. Though, it seemed John noticed it as well, as the man stepped up, blocking the robots path. John looked at its clouded array intently nearly radiating distrust. 

 

“What the hell are you…?” He muttered. 

 

Letting out a quiet hum, the robot couldn’t offer much more of a response. It could flick its serial number and function across its array, but it doubted John would ever understand it. For the moment John simply stood there awkwardly, before shaking his head and going back to the access panel he was working on. 

Terrans were so puzzling sometimes. 

 

Eventually as it continued to work, it heard the ship rumble to life, the red emergency lights flick off only to be replaced by bright white lights, and a message from its passive link with the Jupiter reported power had been restored. The next hour or two was rather painfully boring actually,the robot eventually culling background processes and running on autopilot as it worked. Once, however it was lifted out of its sort of stasis when it heard Judy talk as it worked on drying the arches of the hub. 

 

“Hey…” she said quietly, drawing its attention. 

Looking over, its array dimmed to a dull purple, curious as to why she wanted to speak with it. 

 

“I...Just- I just wanted to say, um…” she trailed off, looking down as her array twisted to an odd expression.  It’s scans labeled it as a sign of...emotional duress? It filed that information away to analyze later. 

After a second, the girl looked back up, her eyes a little misty with tears. 

“Thank you.” She said quietly, looking up to its array. 

 

Before long she left as well, unable to read its response just like the others, leaving it to its job. Eventually it made its way down to the second deck, falling back into autopilot. Rarely did it ever find a situation where it could be actually bored, but this was certainly one. After a time it heard someone skitter down the ladder to its level and run over, drawing it out of autopilot. Picking its head up, it’s array flashed from the cloudy purple to a bright star swirling blue as it saw Will. 

 

“Hey!” The boy piped, running over. “Dad said we’re going out to look for survivors, he said you can come with! Come on!”

 

**_Order processed, alternating objective to: Escort._ **

 

Letting out a noise of understanding, it followed Will up to the main deck, and outside, though it did not see John yet. 

 

“Mom and Dad will be out in a minute.” Will said simply. “Here! I’ll show you where we’re going.” 

 

Standing half next, half in front of the robot, Will brought up a map on his wrist device. “Ok so, the last ping from the nearest Jupiter was over here,” he said zooming the map in and flagging the location. Silently, the robot did the same in its own navigation system. 

 

Absently it was aware of John and Maureen surfacing as Will chattered on, explaining the supposed plan. Some of its processors registered the two talking between themselves, though it seemed strained given their tones and body language. For mates the two certainly seemed uncooperative with each other at times. Was that normal for Terrans?

 

“And our Jupiter is over here, so we’ll need to find a way safe for mom down the glacier back into the forest,” Will continued, rambling on until Maureen drew their attention. 

 

“Come on!” She called, walking ahead, leaving John with a displeased look on his array. 

 

“Come on,” Will chipped in return, walking off and pausing when he saw the Robot hadn’t started to follow yet. “Let’s go!” He beckoned, waving an arm. 

 

**_Primary objective set: Escort and protect._ **

**_Secondary objective: Search for living Terrans._ **

 

**_Alert: Barometric pressure dropping, be alert of forming meteorological anomalies._ **

 

**_Engaging wide angle escort surveillance._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discrepancy 1: Stating John had brown eyes when in the show he had blue eyes. This I changed due to the fact two blue eyed parents physically can not produce a brown eyed child, i.e. Will.  
> Discrepancy 2: The waterlogged ship. This I tweaked because according to the show the ship should have been completely filled with solid ice, and I could not think of a satisfying way to logic my way out of the robot solving this problem so the Robinson's could get back down there.  
> Discrepancy 3: The robot shape shifting. It canonly can do it, so why not have some fun with it? Think of this form as having the robots original top half, and the lower half tentacly bits like the Sentinels in The Matrix.
> 
> Enjoy! Chapter 4 should be out in a week at most.


	4. Status 200: Memory Found

The journey down the glacier was tedious at best, as John and Maureen were in charge of picking their way down. The robot watched warily, scanning the terrain and detecting if there was any risk in the ways they were picking down. Thankfully they made it to the forest without incident, and they eventually got to the indicated area Will had shown it. 

 

There was a large gash in the forest, trees snapped, and the ground scraped bare, dotted with dying fires and debris. The family fell silent and simply looked until John walked forward and started checking scrap that littered the ground. 

 

“This was the Jupiter 17.” He said we he found a plate with the numbers still visible. 

 

“Did you know anyone on it?” Will asked with a little frown. 

 

“No, honey…” Maureen sighed. 

 

“That could have been us.” Will said softly after a moment. 

 

“But it wasn’t.” Maureen said reaching out and taking Will’s hand in what it guessed was a comforting gesture. Terrans seemed to be a very sensory inclined species from what it observed, touch being a common source of comfort and bonding. 

 

Yeah...well, better set something up if another search party comes through.” John said with a slight sigh. “With as many Jupiter’s as Will saw fall, we can’t be the only survivors.” 

 

“Ok. I’ll walk down the pass, make sure no ones down there before we go.” Maureen said gesturing down the strip of scorched forest the Jupiter had ripped in the landscape. 

 

“Maureen,” John spoke up, his face grim. “There’s not going to be anyone down there…” 

 

“I’d still like to check, but...you’re right…” Maureen sighed heavily. 

 

The Jupiter had been ripped apart, and even though the heat of the fires, the robot couldn’t detect any Terran signatures. No one could have survived the crash. 

 

“I’ll try to raise any of the other Jupiter’s or search parties,” Maureen said, limping a little ways away. 

 

“Ok, I’ll work on setting something up,” John nodded. “Will, could you make something that could point someone towards our Jupiter?”

 

“Sure!” Will piped. 

 

Picking a place where it had a wide field of view, the Robot settled and simply watched the Robinsons go about their tasks, John scratching out a crude message on the ship scrap with a rock. Will, however, started gathering up sticks and rocks, lining them up to make a large arrow pointing south east towards their Jupiter. 

 

As they did this, Maureen paced as best she could, trying to radio out to anyone that could hear them, though she only seemed to be speaking to dead air. 

 

“This is Maureen Robinson from the Jupiter 2. We are at the crash site of the Jupiter 17, we found no survivors. If there are any other search parties in the area, please respond.” She radioed out, falling silent after a moment. 

 

“No luck?” John asked. 

 

“No…” the woman said softly with a slight shake of her head. “This is Maureen-“ she repeated, but was suddenly cut off as a familiar electronic wail sounded through her device. 

 

**_‘This is Sentinel B9 requesting emergency extraction from attached coordinates. Cargo: ‘Core A9’ has been secured. Repeat: this is Sentinel B9 requesting emergency extraction from attached coordinates…’_ **

 

The message rang in the robots processors, making it reflexively Square its shoulders, its array flickering a almost red purple. 

 

**_Memory retrieved: Personal identification: ‘Sentinel B9’._ **

 

The message flicked across its display, as Will whipped around and looked towards his mother's coms device in faint alarm. 

 

“You hear that before?” John asked, glancing between Will and the robot. 

 

Looking at the robot then back to his dad, Will nodded. “Yeah, it’s coming from the crashed ship… his crashed ship.” He said waving towards the robot. 

 

“Then it must be somewhere close!” Maureen said visibly growing excited. 

 

“It’s a long walk back.” John said dismissively. 

 

Looking back and forth between Will and the robot, Maureen said, “Ask it if it knows where its ship is.”

 

Will looked over, and both he and the robot knew it was a pointless question. But still, the boy walked up to it and looked into its array, and asked. “Do you know where your spaceship is?”

After a moments silence on its part, Will looked to his mom and said, “I don’t think he remembers anything from before.”

 

“Before what?” John asked. 

 

“Before he got hurt.” Will said looking back to his dad. “I-I told you. He got hurt.”

 

“But it remembers you, so it must remember where it  _ met _ you,” Maureen said pointedly, earning a glance from

John. 

 

“Let’s not push our luck.”

 

“But there’s so much we don’t know yet!We need to take this opportunity to find out.” Maureen said grabbing her pack. 

 

“When you don’t know, that’s when you go home.” John said with a hint of aggravation, bending down and grabbing his pack as well. “We’re heading back to the Jupiter, come on.”

 

“Will,” Maureen spoke up. “Since when do you not do what I ask?”

 

The robot saw Will look back and hesitate, along with John who let out a sigh. It felt like a confrontational question, but it supposed it hadn’t quite learned all the nuances of Terrans yet. 

 

Walking forward Will looked up to it and asked, “Can you take us to where we met?”

 

**_Order received: engaging navigation. ETA. . . 16 minutes._ **

 

Straightening up, the robot saw its navigation come up in the corner of its display, a dotted line trailing from their location to the destination. Turning, it began walking, and behind it, it heard John let out a displeased ‘great.’

 

“Sorry,” Will grimaced before following. 

 

“You know you want to go as much as I do,” it beard Maureen quip before it tuned out their impending argument. 

 

Will bounded along until he got to the robots side, and it simply looked over to him for a second as they walked. The journey to where they met was a little less treacherous given there were far less areas that posed a risk to Maureen. However, it was sure a Terran on their own wouldn’t have been able to make the trek and find their way to the exact location Will wanted to go. The fire had rendered over half the surrounding area unrecognizable, the ground still smoldering.

 

Dutifully it walked directly to the tree they met in, and looked up with a sort of mechanical whirring growl. It could still see the gashes in the burnt wood its claws had left when it was trying to get down on its own. It was still amazed it was saved just before shutdown. 

 

“This is it!” Will said looking up as well. “We met up there!”

 

“Up there?” John asked.

 

“He was kinda...ripped in half.” Will said a little awkwardly, kicking the burnt remains of the splinters the robot had been stuck on. “I cut him down.”

 

“And it repaired itself?” Maureen said curiously. 

 

“Yeah! Then he helped me get back to you guys!” Will grinned. “And his ship was….this way!” He said running off, making it follow, along with his parents. 

 

Once or twice Will stopped, and looked around, circling and trying to figure out which way to go.

 

“What’s the hold up? Don’t you remember?” John asked again. 

 

“No, I do. I just...Some animal or something was at the ship, so I got scared. It chased me up the tree and ran away when it saw him.” Will said. 

 

Interesting...why would Will partially lie? Was it’s base form frightening to all Terrans, and he just wanted to hide it? Well. It’s not like it could communicate the truth anyway. 

 

Finally they breached the tree line leading to the crash site, large trees disintegrated and strewn into the mud in splinters  leading to its ship. The robot and Will picked their way down the slope through the debris as John and Maureen followed behind. 

 

“Come on!” Will said bounding down the slope again ahead of the robot. 

 

Simply, it followed until they were at the ship, then simply watched Maureen and John walk around the ship in amazement. 

 

“Hey Will! Stay outside.” Maureen called as they found a hole in the ships side they could slip in through. 

 

“Ok mom!” Will called, before simply wandering idly. 

 

Outwardly the robot blankly watched him wander, though it’s array silently conveyed its curiosity as Will moved around. The boy would kick over branches, or lift up plates that had ripped off the ship, and randomly pick up small geological masses. He would turn them in his hands, and scrape off dirt and mud if it  was present, then either drop them carelessly, which he mostly did; or put them in his pack. What strange behavior...wouldn’t the weight of such random things be a hindrance?

 

Eventually Will picked up a brightly colored seed capsule that, instead of burning and charring, had become a brilliant pinkish purple. The specimen had split open along three seams, and bloomed outward, showing large pockets where the seeds had presumably once been. 

 

“Tough seed to survive that fire.” Will said turning it in his hands. “I’m gonna add it to my collection.”

 

Reaching back to his belted pack, Will deposited the seed, but paused, drawing something else out with a confused look. A sphere of highly chemically treated white animal hide and synthetic red fibers. 

 

“How’d that get in there?” The boy muttered. 

 

After a second he looked up, and his expression of confusion turned into a small smile as the robot tilted its head curiously. “Catch.” Will said before throwing the ball underhand at the robot. 

 

Not quite understanding the command, the robot did not act, and the ball hit its chest plating with a solid thunk, though its sensors reported no damage. Why had he done that?

 

As the ball bounced and rolled away, Will went and retrieved it before jogging over to the robot. 

“Here, open your hand,” he said gently prompting it to splay its fingers. “Hold onto it.” He added, then pressing the robots fingers closed around the ball. 

 

Then, promptly the boy trotted a short distance away and said, “Throw it back.”

 

Looking down at the ball then back up at Will, the robot let out a venting whirr. Wouldn’t it hurt if the boy failed to ‘catch’ it properly? Well, it was an order, so it began to raise its arm to throw the ball back overhand, but stopped when Will put his hands out urgently. “Gently!” He said, though his array conveyed amusement. 

 

Oh. Well that made more sense. Was this activity a form of recreation rather than sport then? It couldn’t tell. So, leaving that thought for a later time, the robot did as instructed and tossed the ball back. 

 

Easily Will caught the ball, and laughed softly. “Nice.” He said before tossing the ball back. As the robot caught the ball once more, the boy spoke up again, “This isn’t weird. This isn’t weird at all...nice throw!”

 

For little while, the two continued this trivial back and forth until Will stopped, looking at the ball with a slight frown. 

“I always wanted him to come back,” he said, not looking up. “But… now that he’s here…” he trailed off, opting to throw the ball, sighing, “you probably don’t know what a dad is…”

 

It did, to a point really. From what it had gathered in its short time with the Robison family, ‘dad’ was the title given to a young Terrans paternal unit. Though, as it thought on this, and struggling to read Will’s expression, the robot misjudged the trajectory of its throw, and sent the ball far right of Will. 

 

Promptly, Will turned and followed it, seeing it get wedged under a plate ripped off of the ship. Crouching down, the boy tried to pull the ball back out, but couldn’t get a good grip on it. So, walking over, the robot reached out and pressed down on the curved plate, lifting it for Will. 

 

Suddenly, with a short audio warning and a skitter of energy running across the plate, the robot felt  its systems enter overdrive. Outwardly the robot jolted as its array switched to its default red and golds, its body twitching and ticking as plates taped together, reeling as its processors were suddenly flooded with heavy amounts of information.    
  
**_Engaging memory sync, please wait for hard-drive  memory backup..._ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Backup complete._ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Restarting craft navigation projection._ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Sync with secondary neural network present? Y/N?_ ** **_  
_ **   
Secondary neural network? Was Will connected to it as well? That was not good. Terran brains were complex, but no where near capable of safely comprehending the amount of information the robot could process.    
  
**_N._ ** **_  
_ **   
**_Reviewing last synced memory log._ ** **_  
_ **   
**_‘This is Sentinel B7 reporting. Primary mission on Tera successful. Drone E5 body has been disposed of, and Terran records deleted. Reverse engineering efforts successfully halted, returning to D4-N63R.’_ ** **_  
_ **   
_ The message ran through its processors as it climbed into the Terran ship, alarms buzzing in its receivers. Before it, uniformed Terrans ran, futilely firing high velocity projectiles at it, the bits of metal pinging off its armor harmlessly. Once or twice they got a lucky shot and grazed a wire, but the damage repaired itself rapidly.  _ _   
_   
However, as it was forced to review the last logged memory, the robot began to feel...strange. Thoughts that weren’t it’s own flitting through its processors, and sensations it had never felt before running through its frame. The thoughts were simple, but distressed. ‘What’s going on? How am I seeing this?’   
  
Was Will still linked with it? The Terran had to be...   
  
_ Letting out a angry rumble, the robot let its cores charge to full power, firing molten plasma at the Terrans, shutting them down swiftly. The plasma ripped through their soft fleshy bodies and scorched their insides, felling them in fractions of a second.  _ _   
_ _   
_ No, no, no, it could not let Will see this! It felt nodes and sensors in its chest fizzle and run wild with an energy it could only describe as fear and horror. Even the spines on its back flared out as it tensed.    
  
Was it feeling what Will was? Was it...experiencing something akin to mortal emotional responses? This  wasn’t any good. Background processes warned it Will’s heart rate was beginning to skyrocket.    
  
**_Disengage_ ** .    
  
_ Terran screams grated on its receivers as it walked through the ships annoyingly low ceilinged corridors. It shot down any Terran in its path without hesitation, even if they were running away.  _ _   
_   
**Disengage!** **  
** _   
_ _ It walked forward, following its sensors towards its target _ .    
  
**‘Stop! Stop! Don’t kill them!’** **  
**   
**_DISENGAGE!_ ** **__  
**   
Finally the robot forcibly regained control of its body, and stopped the recall, suddenly letting go of the plate like it was a threat. Slowly it looked over to Will as the boy stumbled back with a gasp. 

Suddenly, it could understand Will’s expressions as easily as it could read the arrays of its own kind, and the look on the boy’s face now was one of pure terror. “No….no…” he whispered before suddenly running away. 

 

**_Alert: Subject Will Robinson’s heart rate exceeding admissible levels._ **

 

Letting out an aggravated noise, the robot ignored the alert. Of course Will’s heart rate was going crazy, the boys body was producing everything he needed to run for his life! However, it did note a new icon on its navigational mini map. Did Will and it accidentally sync somewhat while it was connected to its ship? Well, the new input it was experiencing in its systems was certainly confusing, but that was for a later time. For now, it had to keep up with Will. The forest could contain any number of dangers to the boy if he was alone. 

 

Trailing behind, but paying attention to its mini-map when it lost visuals on Will, the robot every now and then saw Will look back at it, but keep going. Eventually the boy began to tire, finally stopping as his breathing became too ragged, sinking down onto a large moss covered boulder. 

 

Walking up to the boy, the robot began to reach out to touch Will’s shoulder like it had seen John and Maureen do when providing assurance, but stopped when Will visibly flinched. Promptly, it drew back, as Will panted and looked up at it. Again the robot felt that strange skittering suffocating surge of energy in its chest. Was it still getting echoes of sensations from Will? Was this...anxiety? Panic? It couldn’t tell. 

 

“Was that you?!” Will said harshly, terrified confusion clear in his voice. “Why did you attack us?!  _ Tell me!” _

 

Straightening up slightly as the direct order was received the robot reflexively explained, but to Will, it only came out as a low rumble and a flitting of lights in its array. 

 

“You really don’t remember?” Will asked. 

 

No, it certainly remembered now, but it just couldn’t convey it easily. Its vocal processors and emitters weren’t designed for Terran speech forms, plus its grasp on their language was minimal to moderate at best. 

 

“But...But you’re not like that anymore! You’re not...you’re not like that...are you?” The boy asked, his expression changing to a saddened confusion. 

 

Letting out a soft venting noise, the robot visibly wilted, dropping its arms, and its platelets clinking softly as they drooped. It was. It was still like that. Its model, Sentinels, were designed specifically for combat and exploration. It was made like all its kind, made to follow orders for the benefit of the many rather than the few. 

 

Looking hard at it, Will seemed to force himself to calm.  “Raise your left hand.” He ordered suddenly. 

 

Odd...but it was an order, so obediently, the robot rose its arm, and flexed its fingers before returning to its resting stance. 

 

“Now...now raise your right.” Will said after watching it. Once more it obeyed. 

 

“Turn around.” The boy continued. Looking to the side, the robot moved, turning to face its back to Will. 

 

Where was Will getting with this? The view was certainly unique, possibly beautiful in the Terrans vocabulary. 

 

“Walk forward.” Will ordered. 

 

**_Running risk assessment._ **

 

In fractions of a second, the robot registered a way to get down, and was about to step down to a low rock embedded in the sharply sloped surface of the cliffs before the boy cried out. 

 

“No! Wait!... come back.” He said quietly, prompting the robot to turn once more. 

 

However, after it had turned back, the robot dropped to a knee, sensing being on Will’s level would be more comforting. Tentatively Will reached out and touched the plating near its shoulder joint, small fingers curling around the plates softly. The boy seemed to reach a grim understanding, but all it could do was fill its array with soft white light in a sort of friendly gesture.

 

Letting out a long sigh, Will let his head drop, silent for a long moment until the Robot moved. Reaching out, it gently took Will’s hand in its own and let out a trilling hum, it’s array shifting to a soothing deep

blue. 

 

At this Will seemed surprised. It had been a comforting action when Maureen did it right? It’s concerns were quelled quickly when Will smiled softly. “Thanks…” he said giving the robots hand a light squeeze. 

 

Once he calmed completely, the boy shuffled around the robot and got to his feet. “Come on. Mom and dad are gonna be worried.” He said quietly before heading back towards the robots ship. 

 

As predicted, about two thirds of the way to the ship, the two began to hear Maureen and John calling Will’s name. 

 

“I’m here.” Will called as they got closer, seeming a little drained from running and panicked episode earlier. 

 

“You ok?” John asked, earning a quiet ‘hey,’ from his son. 

 

“Why did you run off?” Maureen asked seeming concerned. 

 

“I didn’t run off.” Will lied easily, before looking back to the robot. “We were just exploring.”

 

This time the robot couldn’t question Will opting to lie. Loss of life was worlds more difficult to explain awah than a monstrous root form. 

 

“Yeah well…” John said walking up to Will and patting him on the shoulder as he walked by. “That’s enough exploring for today.”

 

Slightly Will nodded, and turned, following John to begin the arduous hike back to the Jupiter.

 

**_Warning: barometric pressure continuing to drop, be aware of impending severe meteorological phenomena._ **

 

The message flicked across its display as it slipped into the same sort of autopilot it used before. However it’s dismissal was proven an error moments layer when something seemingly fell from the tree canopy just behind Will. Picking it up, Will carefully looked at it and found it to be a small stone, no bigger than the end of his thumb, made of what almost looked like obsidian. Glossy and black,  with sharp edges. 

 

“Cool,” He commented. 

 

Seconds later however, the noise of more stones falling began to sound around them, ripping through leaves and underbrush. The robot sensed fear beginning to stir within Will as some pieces buried themselves in the bark of nearby trees. So, dutifully, it raised an arm over Will, shielding the boy from more pieces, the stones glancing off its armor. 

 

“What is that? Will, come here!” Maureen said urgently as he winds began to pick up, and black clouds began to roll in overhead. 

 

“We need to get cover, come on!” John yelled, nearly grabbing Maureen and pushing Will ahead of him as they ran. “Quick! Quick! Come on!” 

 

Quickly, all three of them pulled their hoods up, and held them tight, Will ducking under the cover of a boulder with a wide ridge. Maureen and John followed, hunkering down on either side of Will, shielding him. 

 

Behind them, the robot followed, ready to shield the family itself, until it heard a distorted signal come through Maureen’s coms. 

 

_ “Mom! Where are you? Do you hear me?”  _ Penny called. 

 

“Penny?” Maureen said in confused surprise. They should have been far out of  range for the Terran technology to pick up signals from the Jupiter. 

 

_ “Mom?”  _ Penny radioed back. 

 

“Penny!”

 

_ “I’m in the chariot; I’m coming to get you!”  _

Ah. That would explain it. 

 

“What-?” Maureen started before her daughter cut her off flatly. 

 

“ _ We will discuss this when you are  _ **_also_ ** _ in the chariot. I can’t track you because of the storm, where are you?” _

 

So they had rescue transportation enroute. That made its life easier. So, forgoing shielding the family, the robot stepped up onto the rock and charged its array, Penny had to be within a kilometer or two to be in range. So, casting a piercing beam of light from its array, the robot began looking around, both trying to see Penny, and acting as a search beacon.  Below it, it could hear Maureen stammering before she fell quiet for a second then said firmly, “Look for the light.”

 

A second later John dug in his pack and grabbed goggles, and handed them to Will and Maureen, instructing them quickly to put them on as the winds picked up. Shortly after it heard Penny radio in, “I see it! I see it! I’m coming!” 

 

Looking back and forth it wasn’t long before it’s receivers picked up the sound of the Chariot tearing through the undergrowth, and finally saw its lights. Immediately once the vehicle pulled up, John got the others to their feet, shouting “Go!” 

 

“Come on!” Penny yelled as the doors opened, and everyone clambered in. 

 

Following, it heard Will say, “I don’t think he’ll fit!”

 

In the chariot? Of course it wouldn’t. It was nearly as tall as the vehicle alone, and the cabin was designed for small Terran bodies, not its hulking form. 

 

“Tell him to hold on tight!” John said after glancing its way. 

 

“Hold onto the back!” Will ordered quickly, just before the doors swung shut. 

 

Pacing to the back of the Chariot, the robot stepped up onto the steel running bar. Letting part of its feet unfold from its current form, it hooked the pieces under the bar for security, and grabbed onto the ridges near the top of the vehicle, just tight  enough it wouldn’t be jostled loose. 

 

Then, just as John started driving it lowered its head, and let plates and armor in its neck shift. It formed a tight knit plate over its neck and shoulders,  protecting its essential wires and ‘spinal’ cord. It didn’t need to navigate anyway, so it could afford to keep its head low, besides, abrasions on its array were a tedious annoyance to get out of the composite dome covering its lights. 

 

It felt tense as they drove away from the storm, still feeling echoes of Will’s emotions. Given nothing really else to occupy its processors other than risk assessments and calculations, it let itself dwell on these odd sensations. If it focused hard and let its code work in ways it had never been designed to, it could almost see ghosts of what it assumed Will was seeing. It was fascinating. 

 

It didn’t have long to dwell on this, as it was physically jerked out of its thoughts. Tilting its head up in confusion at the sudden change, it round John for some reason was now driving parallel with the storm, angling towards a ball of fire hovering in the sky. What was the Terran doing!? Even with their rate of speed and the topography of the terrain, they would be swallowed up by the storm unless he returned to driving perpendicular to the front. 

 

However, the robots frustrations were soon shifted to an amazement as it saw a person stumbling through the dust and winds of the storm. Were Terrans really so altruistic as to risk pack safety in the name of saving another of their kind? But, that couldn’t have been completely accurate. After all, Will had been ready to give up his own life to give the robot a chance to survive, and they had absolutely nothing in common other than being a sentient being. 

 

Holding on and tucking its head back down as stones began pelting its body, the robot waited as the family quickly pulled the woman into the chariot with them. Seconds later they were driving again, course corrected to go right to the Jupiter. Once or twice as John had to drive up the glacier, the robot was nearly thrown, and was forced to hang on tighter, just shy of denting  the metal under its fingers. It didn’t really blame John for driving erratically though, as its sensors flashed warnings across its display that the storm was getting closer and closer. Just before they tore up the ramp into the Jupiter, they were nearly swallowed up by the storm. 

 

The second John slammed on the breaks, the robot let out a weary noise before it began detangling its feet from the running bar. It also took the time to shift its plates back into place so it could move its neck and shoulders properly. Behind it, it was aware of the bay doors closing as Judy had hit the emergency switch.  

 

Absently it heard the others celebrating, and felt echoes of Wills relief and joy, and logged the feeling as it stepped down. It would have to analyze all the new information when it finally ran its post sync diagnostics and recoveries. Moving once everything was settled, it walked around the Chariot and paused seeing the new arrival. The woman was ragged, with short messy hair, and stepped back in fear when she saw it.

 

“It’s ok.”  Will said, cutting in. “He’s not dangerous.”

 

Well. It was. But, for some reason, as it felt foreign bits and sparks of new energy and signals  skittering through its wires and processors, it couldn’t help but think… Maybe it would try not to be. Be something Will wouldn’t need to be scared of. Be something that could make the Terran feel secure as it worked to repay its debt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self: Don't promise upload dates. Sorry this one took a bit, but enjoy the longest chapter so far!

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo yeah! Chapter one! In future chapters any discrepancies or odd information will be explained here generally. 
> 
> Enjoy!


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